


Two Can Play This Game

by lunaofthemiste



Category: Battle for London in the Air (Roleplay)
Genre: BANTS!, F/M, Project Infinity AU, Swords!, my ideal scenario
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28563687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaofthemiste/pseuds/lunaofthemiste
Summary: Oscar thinks swords are outdated, but Alyss is determined to prove him wrong.
Relationships: Oscar Sherry/Alyss Okänd
Kudos: 3





	Two Can Play This Game

When it came to Alyss Okänd, Oscar generally had more questions than answers. 

They had parted ways last year, after the fall of Project Infinity, but had reconnected a few months ago, completely by accident. If he was honest with himself, he wasn’t sure what his relationship was with her at this point. He _had_ to assume they were more than friends by now, based solely on what they had done together, but Alyss seemed perfectly happy to leave whatever they had undefined at the moment. She let him tag along on her adventures until they were both making equal decisions on where they should go.

Currently, they were back in the city where it all began, staying at the old rebel base - Oscar had always found that ‘Extremists’ was a bit odd to call a group of rebels trying to do the right thing and he blamed the old Project Infinity management for that name. The base was mostly empty, though it was widely known to any of those involved that it was a safe house for anyone who needed it. Even though the rebels didn’t like him very much, it would be fine if he stayed here with Alyss.

As he followed her around the compound, he quickly caught on that she was not heading for any of the resting areas. There was a large black case strapped across her back, and Oscar could think of any number of items that could fit in there. Alyss did love her weapons.

She also liked to bargain, as he found out quickly when they first started hanging out together. Oscar quickly put two and two together and sighed audibly. “Is this because of the meeting last week?” He asked, still trailing behind her.

“Partially,” Alyss shrugged, turning back to Oscar. She had shifted back into herself now, or at least what Oscar assumed she looked like naturally. Usually, she stayed in whatever form she felt like at the moment, male or female. “Also because _someone_ said we can’t go crime-fighting here and I want to hit something.”

“I told you, it’s too risky,” Oscar insisted as they walked to the unknown location. “The last thing we need is any police or reporters.”

“Like your friend?”

“She’s one of the good ones,” Oscar insisted. Alyss was referring to Rebecca, who she had met yesterday. He didn’t see Rebecca and Tristan as often as he would have liked to, but that was a conscious choice based on his lifestyle. While Rebecca was very much a public figure, Oscar was reluctant to head back into that life. He also didn’t want to be her bodyguard and found it unnecessary since Tristan was usually at her side. The three of them had talked about it, which led to Rebecca assisting in covering up Project Infinity, as well as listing Oscar’s name among the deceased. It was a small act, but one that would ensure no one would try and look for him now. 

“Mm-hmm,” Alyss nodded skeptically, looking around at the room they entered, which was empty except for the lights on the ceiling. “This will do.”

“Do for what?” Oscar asked, looking around as well - the room was entirely unremarkable, which made the options for what activity Alyss picked out even more confusing.

“Sword-fighting,” Alyss pulled the case off her shoulder and laid it on the ground, opening it. Inside there were two swords that looked like a perfect blend between ultra-modern and the swords of old.

“Really? Is this how you want to spend your Friday night?” Oscar asked, crossing his arms.

Alyss looked up at Oscar, frowning. “This is fun. Besides, you owe me one.”

“I do,” Oscar sighed, agreeing. “So we’re just going to practice?”

“Yup,” Alyss nodded, unpacking one of the swords. “It might be a bit light for you, but it’ll do for now,” she explained, unsheathing the swords and handing it to Oscar.

“How do you have these?” He asked, tentatively waving the sword around while Alyss unsheathed the other one.

“I bought it, obviously,” Alyss shrugged, placing the sheaths inside the case before closing it. “Swords are cool, and I like learning how to fight in different ways.”

“Yeah, but no one uses swords anymore,” Oscar pointed out. “Guns are generally preferred”

“Guns are boring. They work, but they’re incredibly boring,” Alyss rolled her eyes as she pushed the case to the wall and picked up her sword, swinging it around with ease.

“I think they’re cool,” Oscar shrugged. “Less blood than swords.”

Alyss looked at him quizzically. “Do you _want_ me to try and cut you up with this? I’m literally holding a large knife. It’s going to create a lot of blood if I hit you.”

“ _If_ you hit me.”

“If I hit you I won’t feel bad because you’ll heal right back up,” Alyss shrugged. “And _I_ know you’ll feel bad if you hit me.”

“Because you somehow don’t care if you get hurt?” Oscar asked, though he already knew the answer. “You know that drives me crazy.”

“It drives everyone crazy,” Alyss smiled. “You ready?”

“I barely know how to use this thing,” Oscar shrugged.

“You have good enough reflexes, you’ll figure it out, Sherry,” Alyss grinned, swinging her sword at Oscar. It was slow enough so Oscar could react. “See, you can do it. I won’t go so easy on you later.”

“I didn’t know you planned to go easy on me,” Oscar mused, sliding the edge of his sword along the edge of hers, creating a gritty sound.

“It’s only fair for you to understand how this works,” she shrugged. “Otherwise, it won’t be rewarding when I win.”

“When you win? We’ll see about that, Okänd,” Oscar grinned, disengaging and lunging forward.

Alyss blocked the attack, grinning back. “That’s more like it!”

“When did you learn to swordfight?” Oscar asked. “You’re not fencing.”

“No, I find fencing pretentious,” Alyss explained during her next attack. “I learned mostly through practice with a dummy and practicing with actors.”

“Actors? Really?” 

She shrugged. “They love getting experience with this sort of thing.”

“But there are mods for that now,” Oscar pointed out, deflecting her attack before sending back one of his own.

“Mods aren’t the same, and you know it,” Alyss shot back as she dodged the sword.

“True,” he nodded, deciding to change the subject to something that was on his mind. “Why don’t you like my friends?” Oscar asked.

Alyss rolled her eyes and swung deliberately close to Oscar’s head. “I never said I didn’t like them, I said they didn’t like me.”

Oscar blocked the sword, attempting to disarm her. “I think they like you.”

“They were looking for a reason to not like me. Rebecca looked like she was waiting for me to slip up and admit that I’m an alien or something.”

“You’re not an alien,” he pointed out while he stepped back.

“Or am I?” Alyss asked, then shook her head. “Don’t answer that.”

“Wasn’t going to,” Oscar shrugged, lunging forward with the sword and waiting before asking another question. “Do you think that maybe you’re just used to not having friends?”

Alyss blocked the attack but waited a second before responding. “What makes you think that?”

“You’ve told me about how you’ve spent a lot of time alone.”

Alyss scoffed. “I need to stop telling you things when I’m drunk.”

“Maybe you should drink less.”

“Maybe you should watch your guard,” Alyss commented as her attack hit Oscar in the forearm. Oscar looked down at his healing wound as Alyss continued talking. “What’s the point of seeing them if you know they’re going to leave one day?”

“Well, what about Esen?” He responded.

“That’s different, she’s family,” Alyss answered. She gestured to Oscar to make sure he was okay. When he nodded, she attacked again.

“So? They’re kind of like my family. I made choices to protect them, and even though I’m letting ‘Oscar Sherry’ die, I’m still staying in contact with them,” he explained as he blocked her attacks. He was starting to get the hang of this.

“What do you even talk about?”

“Well, what do _we_ talk about?” Oscar shrugged. “Everything and nothing.”

Alyss nodded in agreement, blocking Oscar’s attack. “Maybe I wasn’t sure because I can’t put a finger on how they look at you.”

Oscar hesitated. “What’s wrong with how they look at me?” 

“I think they pity you.”

“Counterpoint,” Oscar said, blocking the attack and immediately responding, “they don’t pity me, they care because they’re my friends. I feel the same way”

“Counter-counterpoint,” Alyss blocked Oscar’s attack, making eye contact with him, “you have mixed emotions because I almost had to talk you into going, and _I_ didn’t even want to go.”

Oscar sighed, “I think you know why.”

“Do I?” Alyss raised an eyebrow, attacking once again.

“You do. I didn’t know how they’d react after I’d ditched them.”

She rolled her eyes, choosing this time to duck under Oscar’s swing. “They were looking for you, can it be any more obvious? I thought you were talking about other stuff. Crush stuff,” she explained, lunging from below.

“Crush stuff?” Oscar asked, suddenly on the defensive.

“Crush stuff. I’m not blind,” Alyss scoffed.

Oscar frowned, attacking harder than earlier. “I also told you when _I_ was drunk.” The only time Oscar had managed to get drunk in the past few years, helped with an enormous amount of alcohol that somehow made him feel very Irish but less human. They figured it had something to do with Oscar’s regenerative abilities, but there weren’t any scientists to ask and make sure.

Alyss blocked the attacks, her expression unreadable on her face. “I think the amount you drank would have killed me.”

“I thought you weren’t going to be killed by something so stupid?”

She grinned. “I’m not going to be killed by anything if I can help it.”

“Then why do you have such a death wish?” Oscar retorted.

“I’m in a weird state of mind,” Alyss shrugged, changing the subject. “Are you actually trying to hit me?”

“No,” Oscar answered honestly. He had been going for moves that she could easily block so he didn’t accidentally slice her open.

Alyss snorted. “Didn’t think so. Watch your form,” she said, attacking decisively.

“I am,” he responded, making more of an effort to block her attacks.

They fought in silence for another moment before Alyss broke it with a question. “Do you still have a crush on them?”

“What?” Oscar almost missed blocking her latest attack, thrown off by the directness of her question. “Are we _really_ going to talk about this now?” He asked, attacking Alyss back.

“Well, when else are we going to talk about it?” Alyss responded nonchalantly.

“Preferably never,” Oscar muttered.

Alyss frowned, and while she still blocked every attack, she seemed less focused. “So yes?”

Oscar sighed as they continued to fight. “No. I don’t have a crush on either of them anymore, thank you very much. I’ve moved on.”

“You have?” She raised an eyebrow, inviting Oscar’s response.

“Am I that subtle?” He asked. In his opinion, he hadn’t been discreet about his feelings.

“No, but I also try not to flatter myself _that_ much,” Alyss admitted. “I do engage in a healthy amount of self-love.”

“So what do you think?”

“About you?” Alyss asked.

“Who else?” Oscar shrugged the best he could while lunging forward.

“Well, I think,” Alyss started, ducking under Oscar’s lunge and sweeping the leg he had stepped forward with. Oscar fell forward and tried to catch his balance, but Alyss made sure his other leg never made contact with the ground. He dropped the sword as he landed on the ground, but it was too late.

“I think you should watch your form,” Alyss grinned and held the sword under his chin, raising it slightly so Oscar looked up at her. She squatted down to see him better, and held the sword lazily - it was barely pressed to his chin.

Oscar decided to take advantage of this opportunity. He moved to the side of the sword, sat up, and leaned forward, cupping Alyss’s cheek as he kissed her. She kissed him back, and he could sense that she lowered the sword, especially since it sliced the side of his neck. He blindly reached for the hilt of her sword, and when he found it, he grabbed it out of her hand and jumped back. 

“Ha!” Oscar grinned, now holding the reclaimed sword to Alyss’s chin, raising it slightly. “I win.”

“Cheater,” Alyss pouted, though she didn’t look that mad about it. In fact, she looked somewhat proud.

“You would have done the same thing,” he pointed out.

“Fair, but I wouldn’t have sliced my neck open and gotten blood everywhere,” Alyss shrugged. "You can move the sword now,” she added, nodding down to the sword under her chin.

“Right,” Oscar nodded, pulling the sword away. “I can’t believe I won.”

“Because you cheated,” Alyss pointed out.

“I still won.”

“I acquiesce your victory,” Alyss sighed, picking up Oscar’s discarded sword. “Still think swords are boring?”

“I never said boring,” Oscar scoffed. “ _You_ said guns were boring.”

“They are! Swords are better,” Alyss insisted. “Everyone looks better with a sword.”

Oscar laughed, looking back at her. “You know, I think I’ll have to agree with that.”


End file.
